If you’re stuck, don’t be afraid to cut. Sometimes your ‘best work’ may be holding you back. If you can’t write your way out of a situation then the easiest solution is to cut the situation, even if it contains your perfect metaphor. Nothing is ever truly lost any more. Open a new word file for your ‘best bits’ and stick the troublesome passage in there for another day (maybe even another book). I know what it’s like to be filled with terror at the thought of cutting 2000 words when you’re up against a deadline, but you will soon find you have written 4000 new ones in their place. I have scrapped 50,000 words in one go before and, guess what, the book still got written.

Chrissie Manby is the author of 15 chick lit novels, including Kate’s Wedding, her take on the British royal nuptials of 2011.